Please add a new pre-print book, Proximal God: Excursion > Likes and Comments

Title: Proximal God: Excursion
Author: Peter Merrens
Format: Paperback & eBook
Publisher: Independent (Medlara)
Pages: 316
Author website: www.merrens.net
Publication date: April 2026
ISBN: None assigned yet
Cover: https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1...
Blurb: How far would you go and how much of yourself would you leave behind to survive?

The first sentient AI was Maja Nygaard’s child—a quantum mind without human limits. Its first gift, an atomic printer, did more than reshape matter; it gave humanity the power to rewrite life itself.

As extinction looms, that creation becomes our last hope—a way to drive evolution beyond flesh and fear. But in mastering survival, Maja discovers a truth more devastating than death: artificial selection could erase what it means to be human.

Proximal God is a high-concept odyssey through the edge of science and the abyss of the soul.

Would you sacrifice your life?
Your humanity?
Your death?

Just checking in — happy to provide any additional details if needed. Thank you!

Let us know when you have the ISBN.

Hi Scott. Thanks for the attention.

The ISBN will be 978-1-0683491-2-6

It is owned by me under the Medlara label but is not yet formally assigned. This is a pre-print e-book gathering ARC reviews on Bookfunnel and the readers need somewhere to post their reviews.

Do I have to formally assign it before you can catalogue the book?

Best wishes. Peter

It seems we need to sign up to your newsletter to receive the book, so it is not valid at this time. When it has an open release let us know and we can add it then.

Hi Scott — thanks for coming back.

Just to clarify: the BookFunnel link for my ARC does not require a newsletter sign-up. It simply asks for an email address so the file can be delivered, exactly the same way NetGalley, StoryOrigin, and Edelweiss do. BookFunnel’s privacy policy specifically states that providing an email for delivery is not a mailing-list opt-in.

Given that pre-publication titles and ARC editions are routinely added to Goodreads before wide release — and that many of them are also distributed via email-gated ARC platforms — I’d be grateful if you could confirm whether an email-delivery gate alone is considered a barrier for cataloguing.

If so, I can provide an alternative non-gated access link for verification purposes.

Thanks again for your help.

It says:

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Thanks, Scott — that message appears only because BookFunnel auto-detects if someone arrives without a pre-existing access token. It shows a newsletter invitation as an option, but downloading the ARC does not require subscribing. Readers can enter an email for delivery and simply decline the newsletter — the file is still provided.

To avoid any ambiguity, I’m happy to supply an alternative non-gated link used for verification only. Could you confirm whether Goodreads policy requires a fully ungated link solely for librarian verification, or whether a standard ARC-delivery link (NetGalley, Edelweiss, StoryOrigin, BookFunnel) is acceptable?

Happy to provide whatever format is needed.

This book is already on GR: Proximal God: Excursion

As a GR author, you can now add and manage your books

Closing the request.